A little uneven-transitions in emotion rocky.
Low 3. ( )

Broderick MacPherson was wrongfully imprisoned because of the machinations of a very sick (in the head) man who had lots of money to buy or blackmail judges, jailers, criminals, etc. Broderick was horribly, horribly abused while he was jailed and would have died in that jail if not for the influence of his new English brother-in-law, John Huxley, who is heir to an earl. Broderick has been recuperating at home and doing his best to rebuild his strength with one single-minded purpose in mind. Revenge. The man who paid for all of his injuries and disfigurement will pay – with his life. He cannot be allowed to live because he’s after everyone Broderick loves – his entire family.

Katherine “Kate” Huxley is enamored of everything Scot – the land, the people, the language, the stories, the lochs, all of it. After attending the marriage of her brother John and Annie MacPherson, she decides to stay on with them for a time while her parents return to England. Kate will cause you to shake your head – at times she’s a bit of a ditz – as in thinking she’s a writer of plays/novels and other times singing whatever she’d normally be saying. At other times, she shows how loyal, loving, and caring she is. Kate is the only brightness in an otherwise very dark book. Kate is very determined NOT to fall victim to the “mind infection” that has afflicted all of her sisters and friends when they married and had a family. They all seemed to change and lose themselves in their new families – she doesn’t want to lose herself. “To Kate, love was indistinguishable from a consuming parasite of the mind.”

Kate has the habit of wandering the fields, woods, etc. all by herself – much to the consternation of her brother who is trying his best to keep her safe. During one such excursion, Kate becomes turned around – the night creeps in and rain starts – and then she sees a horrible monster – sees him clearly – and he’s beating another man to death. She scurries back and takes off running, but is soon rescued by her brother (or maybe it was a brother-in-law). When she describes what she saw, they all know it was Broderick who had cornered Kenneth Lockhart and proceeded with his revenge. The worry was that now Kate could be compelled to testify against Broderick – and the Sergeant on the case was relentless in his pursuit. He’d hound Kate until she gave the full information because one thing Kate could not do successfully was to prevaricate.

Kate has an ingenious solution – SHE decides she’ll marry Broderick, and when he refuses, she blackmails him into it. To her, it is the perfect solution. It allows her to stay in Scotland, to be near her brother, to keep her from having to testify against Broderick, and there is no chance either of them will be afflicted by the mind infection.

Kate and Broderick definitely had a hard-row-to-hoe in order to get to their HEA, but they finally got there. I thought the book was excellently written, the story well-plotted, and the characters were likable and compelling. The book was also very dark and intense. I had hoped some of the things Kate did would be enough to lighten the book a bit, but it was like a small candle burning in a huge dark cavern. Not quite enough. For my personal preferences, there would have been less graphic detail on the gruesome parts, but I still enjoyed the story and the characters.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ( )